Fresh From The Pod - Gardening Stories

In our last episode for the season, we're sharing a fascinating interview with legendary journalist, writer, broadcaster, presenter, lecturer and of course gardener, Peter Seabrook.Peter tells us everything about his lucky breaks and perseverance over his 80-year career digging deep into horticulture; from his early years cultivating sweetpea at the age of 6, to how he sees things have changed and his predictions for the future of gardening.Join us for this celebration of 50 episodes of Fresh from the Pod with a horticultural hero, Peter Seabrook, before we change things up a little for the second series!Hosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Antony NascèDirected by Helen Allsebrook

Hayfever season is upon us but this doesn't necessarily mean you need to hide away snivelling in the potting shed! Unbelievably, 25% of people struggle with puffy eyes, runny noses and the infamous Chelsea cough, with this figure increasing annually. But fear not; low allergen and healing garden designer, Olivia Kirk, shares her insights on which plants are fantastic for evolving your garden into a low irritation zone. Olivia started offering low allergen garden design in 2010 after the National Pollen Research Unit based in Worcester asked her to design a garden for RHS Chelsea Flower Show. In researching the planting for this Olivia was surprised how little information there was on people’s respiratory responses to plants and since then has been on a mission to create low-allergen gardens.She recently launched The Low Allergy Planting Planner which is a small, robust, waterproof file that is easily slipped into a bag for a quick trip to the garden centre, for when you want to buy some plants that won’t start you sneezing and wheezing. The file is divided into colour-coded sections covering everything from planting for structure to herbaceous planting and ground cover options.Olivia has a portfolio of public and private gardens all around the UK as well as a number of high-profile show gardens to her name. She was awarded an RHS Chelsea Gold medal in 2011 for her ‘Power of Nature’ Garden and her most recent garden at Chelsea for The WellChild Charity was re-located to the Brook on Broadwaters School in Tottenham.  She is a regular tutor for The London College of Garden Design and has recently lectured for Kew and the SGD as well as contributed to books and articles by the RHS on the subject of low allergen gardening in the public domain.

Every gardener dotes on a good pot! This week Jim Keeling joins the Candide podcast to dig the dirt on his 45-year career handcrafting pots and statement planters for gardeners. Whichford Pottery is world-renowned for its reputation in bespoke and specialist pots and so Jim explains why we should all doth-our-cap and take a bow to the terracotta pot!Hosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Antony NascèDirected by Helen Allsebrook

As part of the Candide Festival of Flowers, Tamsin interviews Georgie Newbery, whose whole life revolves around flowers, organically grown on 7 acres, where she creates the most dreamy bouquets, ethically. She talks about her career path up to this point, discloses top tips for growing your own cut flowers and tells us about her favourite and most valued cut flower.Georgie Newbery is the flower farmer and florist at Common Farm Flowers in Somerset. For the past ten years, she has been growing flowers for pleasure and profit, spearheading the resurgence in interest in locally grown British flowers.Hosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Antony NascèDirected by Helen Allsebrook

To mark Mental Health Awareness week, Tamsin speaks to Hannah Powell of Perrywood Tiptree Garden Centre in Essex. Hannah openly discusses her mental health - in the past, she has suffered from depression and Functional Movement Disorder. She shares practical ways to use the power of plants and nature to improve her well-being and explains why she is so passionate about helping people through her blog, The Cactus Surgeon.Hannah also talks about the mental health of those in the Horticultural industry and how the pandemic has had an impact. With approximately 200 staff, she is well placed to offer advice and shares guidance that will be invaluable to anyone in the industry, however large or small their business.

This week we have the dramatic story of plant hunter Tom Hart Dyke, who headed off into the Columbian jungle with his companion, Paul Winder, in the year 2000, where they were kidnapped, held hostage for 9 months and given up for dead. During Tom's ordeal, he began plans for a garden that would contain plants from around the globe planted in their respective continents of origin. On his return, he did just that, at his family home of Lullingstone Castle, where he also showcases his passion for orchids, plant heritage and cutting-edge horticulture.

Altruistic garden designer, Lee Burkhill, favourably known as the Garden Ninja, gives insight on why he's so generous with his gardening knowledge, the importance of turning your garden into an extension of your house and shares what he's been up to on his uplifting YouTube channel.Hosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Antony NascèDirected by Helen Allsebrook

This week, we're visiting Accra in Ghana to meet Rosaline Nutsugah, who has opened a brand new garden centre during lockdown! This fabulous story focuses on the health, climate and environmental benefits of gardening, which propelled Roseline into this new, ambitious career.Tamsin and Roseline met through the My Real Garden project by Ann-Marie Powell, which started online during lockdown and now an incredible book, celebrating the power of plants and the wonderful people that grow them across the world. What's more, it's just been published and features so many 'real' gardeners, so grab a copy!Find out more about Rosaline's gardening journey and business (Green Gold Gardens by Rosaline) by following her on Instagram @greengoldgardensgh.Hosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Antony NascèDirected by Helen Allsebrook

Weather is a key part of everything we do as gardeners, so this week, Tamsin talks with meteorologist and weather presenter Laura Tobin. Together they talk about the changing weather, how it affects us as gardeners and how she found herself in this rare, early morning career, taking complicated science and making it easy for us all to understand.  Hosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Antony NascèDirected by Helen Allsebrook

Like many of us, self-employed hair and beauty advertising photographer to the stars, Tony Le-Britton turned his attention to tropical plants during lockdown but on a breathtaking scale. Tony is a  tropical plant obsessive who has cultivated a lucrative side business selling nodes and leaves worth up to £12,000!Will he ever return to his former career? Tamsin finds out!See the scale of his home takeover on Instagram @notanotherjungleHosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Antony NascèDirected by Helen Allsebrook

Keen to find out why more of us are tuning into the radio for comfort and information? Tamsin speaks to Reg and Jonathan, the Morecambe and Wise of BBC radio for gardening listeners. They discuss their unique relationship on-air and how their long-running Q&A show encourages people to garden.Hosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Antony NascèDirected by Helen Allsebrook

Anna Greenland has grown fruit and vegetables for the likes of Raymond Blanc, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Tom Aikens and Jamie Oliver, and is at the heart of the organic growing movement. In this episode of Fresh from the Pod, she talks with Tamsin about her early life in Cornwall and how it inspired a surprising and wholesome career change to fully embrace growing organic produce! Hosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Antony NascèDirected by Helen Allsebrook

Arthur Parkinson, the nations young, blooming, initiative driven horticulturist, divulges how he's been inspired by women in horticulture, his career with Sarah Raven, his love of hens and how to mitigate rat crisis in the coop! Also, he discusses how there are so many young people desperate to get into horticulture. Yet, there are so many more inspirational lecturers needed to inspire the next generation into flourishing in the sector. Hosted by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Joseph MainDirected by Helen Allsebrook

This week Tamsin chats to the wonderful gardener and food writer Rekha Mistry.Join Tamsin Westhorpe in her conversational podcast, ‘Fresh from the Pod’. Listen to find out about the lives of celebrity gardeners, environmentalists, conservationists and dedicated plant enthusiasts.Produced by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Olivia Tingey

Tamsin would like to share her favourite 10 snippets from this past year with you all, reliving her conversations with the likes o Matt Biggs, Dr Amir Khan and Jekka McVicar plus 7 others.Join Tamsin Westhorpe in her conversational podcast, ‘Fresh from the Pod’; Listen to find out about the lives of celebrity gardeners, environmentalists, conservationists and dedicated plant enthusiasts.Produced by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Olivia Tingey

In this Christmas Special Tamsin speaks with Alan Titchmarsh. They talk about everything, from the start of his career, the importance of making gardening accessible, to his work with Nelson Mandela!Join Tamsin Westhorpe in her conversational podcast, ‘Fresh from the Pod’; Listen to find out about the lives of celebrity gardeners, environmentalists, conservationists and dedicated plant enthusiasts.Produced by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Olivia Tingey

Roy Lancaster is the ultimate plantsman, he has travelled the world in search of plants, and is one of the world's most decorated horticulturalists.Join Tamsin Westhorpe in her conversational podcast, ‘Fresh from the Pod’; Listen to find out about the lives of celebrity gardeners, environmentalists, conservationists and dedicated plant enthusiasts.Produced by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Olivia Tingey

Garden Designer Adam Frost, sits down to chat with Tamsin about lockdown, Chelsea Flower Show and his time on BBC Gardener's World.Join Tamsin Westhorpe in her conversational podcast, ‘Fresh from the Pod’; Listen to find out about the lives of celebrity gardeners, environmentalists, conservationists and dedicated plant enthusiasts.Produced by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Ben Webb

This plant pest and disease filled episode of Fresh From the Pod, is with the Horticultural Manager for the Horticultural Trade Association Pippa Greenwood.Join Tamsin Westhorpe in her conversational podcast, ‘Fresh from the Pod’; Listen to find out about the lives of celebrity gardeners, environmentalists, conservationists and dedicated plant enthusiasts.Produced by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Ben Webb

In this emotional and moving episode of Fresh from the Pod, Dr Olivia Chapple talks about how Horatio's Garden has brought the joy and pleasures of gardens to patients with spinal injuries, enhancing the clinical care they receive and enabling escape from the confines of their situation.Join Tamsin Westhorpe in her conversational podcast, ‘Fresh from the Pod’; Listen to find out about the lives of celebrity gardeners, environmentalists, conservationists and dedicated plant enthusiasts.Produced by Tamsin WesthorpeEdited, Mixed & Mastered by Ben Webb